


Come Undone

by spectresage



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Farmer OC (Stardew), Stardew, Stardew Valley - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spectresage/pseuds/spectresage
Summary: The story of how my character found grandpa's letter and decided to move to Pelican Town to begin her new life.It's about a summer breeze, wind chimes, broken heels, and starlight.THIS IS A SONG FIC! The link is at the beginning; feel free to listen along!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSooYPG-5Rg
Kudos: 2





	Come Undone

From their precariously constructed perch drilled into the brick suspending the rusted, tetanus-laced fire escape, the wind chimes clinked and rattled in quiet harmony with each passing breeze. The gentle zephyr carried with it the scents of summer: burnt rubber, gasoline, sweat, metal, smoke - the unceasing, indiscriminate baking of skin and cement beneath the unyielding sun. The breeze provided little compensation as it traversed through the bug screen into the studio apartment, but it didn’t go unnoticed.  
She had come home more than an hour ago. Her purse laid on its side, the strap ripped, rendering it useless. It was empty, save for a few loose coins and a chewing gum wrapper. Her black heels were by the door, one standing up normally, the other on its side, the heel snapped off, lost somewhere in an alley six or seven blocks away. A rat scurried by, sinking its yellow teeth into the broken heel and dragging it into the vent, leaving behind a trail of fleas and sewage.  
She laid across her twin bed on her back, unmoving. She hadn’t moved for at least an hour now. Her eyes, grey-blue and glassy with exhaustion, gazed at the all-too-slowly circulating ceiling fan which provided no comfort from the unrelenting summer heat. Her lips were barely parted, her spent body slack as her stomach rose and fell in shuddering breaths. Ancient lines of quiet, murky black trailed from her her eyes along her cheekbones, finally stopping at her ears. The tears had run out long ago, long before she’d even gotten home. Home… if this apartment could be called that.  
Her eyes closed and opened again; an attempt at a blink as she slowly woke from her not-sleeping state. The breeze which rustled the yellowing leaves of the dry and aching herbs clinging to life on the fire escape passed through the window screen and gently rustled her unkempt hair, and though it carried with it a terrible scent, the cool touch was no less rejuvenating, waking her from her stasis slowly. Her eyes blinked a few more times, and slowly, like an ancient android, rusted and warped from years of abuse, she turned her head towards the window. Cheek pressed into the rough cotton of her bedsheet, she gazed at the dying herbs with eyes that resembled them, and became still again.  
She wouldn’t remember what she thought then, or even if she had thought anything at all. Perhaps it hadn’t been her mind but her body that picked up her bones and carried them with sudden swiftness from the bed to the kitchenette’s sole counter, just a couple feet away, and there her hands, acting of their own accord, pulled her arms to the raised cabinet, ripped open the little wood door, and removed the little white bottle from within.  
Her shaking fingers struggled to open the bottle, and her aching heart hurt like she’d been stabbed, but still her mind was perfectly silent, even as the lid came off roughly, making the contents spill all over the dirty floor.  
She didn’t make a sound. Her face didn’t change.  
Her legs gave out, forcing her to drop to her knees and hands as she looked under the cabinet, her small hand forcing itself through the small gap under the cabinet, the fear of encountering spiders or rats never crossing her mind. Her palm touched several of the little white orbs, but before she could take up enough of them to do appropriate damage, her fingers trailed against something else.  
A slip of paper.  
It was in her way.  
Her fingers curled around the paper, ripping it out of the way, the risk of tearing it never crossing her mind until she’d already seen it.  
The purple wax seal on the envelope was familiar, but it was the scent of pine, parchment, and clean earth that made her remember. Her mind awoke and grandpa’s smiling, bearded face returned, laughing even as he was saying goodbye. Her heart panged with feeling worse than anything else she’d felt today. She sat on her knees and let the envelope sit in her trembling hands. His voice, tired and scratchy with age and sickness but still strong to the end, echoed in her mind, a familiar and warm colour she had almost forgotten.  
“Now, listen close…” Her clammy, trembling fingers gripped the edge of the worn envelope a little tighter. “There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of life and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness. When that happens, my girl, you’ll be ready for this gift. Now, let grandpa rest…”

_We'll see creation come undone_

A tiny drop of water stained the envelope’s surface before the aural memory faded. Her hands never stopped shaking, even worsened as she scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She had forgotten all about this letter when she was drowned with work from her “internship” ever since she graduated high school. If she hadn’t been pushed to look under that counter, she might never have found it again…  
She remembered her grandpa’s words again and swallowed shakily, more tears already brimming in her eyes. If now wasn’t the time to accept his gift, whatever it was, there never would be. With numb fingers, she tore open the letter with great care. She removed a two slips of paper, one in print, the other in her grandfather’s scratchy, barely legible writing. A shaky smile came to her face as she began to read it:

“Dear Wren,  
If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.  
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.  
I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Whiteshire Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life.  
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name, my girl.  
Good luck.  
Love, Grandpa  
P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?”

Wren stared at the paper for minutes after she had finished reading. She didn’t look at the other paper - she knew what it was. She lifted her head from the letter finally when her eyes were dry and her heart finally still. For the first time in months, her hands had ceased shaking.  
She didn’t take time to think it over, but she didn’t need to.  
She had already made up her mind.

_We'll see creation come undone_  
The starshine was all that lit the valley in the early morning. The sun wouldn’t be rising for a few hours yet, but for some reason, Wren was awake.  
Rest from your journey, Mayor Lewis had instructed her, but she wasn’t tired. She was restless. Two long seasons it had taken to wrestle with the Joja firm and sell her terrible apartment, and now she was here in Pelican Town, in the old farmhouse she had only seen once before when visiting for grandpa to read out his will on his deathbed. The bed she was sleeping in now was new, but the farmhouse was old; the floorboards and roof and walls were full of memories that didn’t belong to her - not yet, at least.  
_These bones that bound will be gone_  
She sat up and, as she did, the sound of wind chimes tinkling in the gentle spring breeze came to her ears like a quiet kiss in the morning light. Wren paused to listen, and smiled when the scent the breeze carried through the cracked cabin window was pleasant; flowers and clean grass, the pond outside and freshly cut wood. This was her grandpa’s farm… no. This was her farm, to do with what she pleased. A brand new start, where no one knew her name.  
_We'll stir our spirits 'til we're one _  
She laid back down again after only a few moments and looked at her ceiling. Her hands no longer shook, and a soft smile rested pleasantly on her lips. Her violet hair laid strewn out on the bed beneath her head, and the sheets under her palms were freshly cleaned and soft to the touch, so soft. They kept her warm and safe, and there were no sounds of honking cars or the scent of smog and gasoline that made her head ache for days on end.  
Wren closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and laid still. She knew not what she would do or who she would meet, or if she would even meet anyone, but one thing she did know was that she was following in her grandpa’s footsteps, and that he would be with her every moment.  
_Then softest shadows will be gone_  
Tomorrow, she would enter Pelican Town for the first time, and with any luck… her life would begin.__


End file.
